Grossman & Jones Real Estate Blog - real estate

"The Housing Market Was Supposed to Recover This Year. What Happened?"

The New York Times writes, "As 2025 began, the stars were aligning for a housing market rebound.

Inflation was easing, the economy looked strong and mortgage rates were drifting downward. By April, there were more available homes to buy than at any time since January 2020, according to the Federal Reserve of St. Louis. The conditions were ripe for buyers to re-emerge, checkbooks in hands, and sellers to negotiate.

Then on April 2, President Trump rolled out his expansive global trade tariffs, shocking the stock and bond markets and sparking fears of a recession. Mortgage rates jumped again, hitting 6.89 percent for a 30-year fixed-rate loan on May 29, their highest level since early February. The extreme volatility threw cold water on a fragile…

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"Austin boasts 9th highest rate of new home construction in U.S."

CultureMap Austin writes, "Austin is trying to accommodate its housing demand by building more homes than most other U.S. cities, a new report has found.

According to a new ConsumerAffairs housing report, Austin has the ninth highest rate of new home construction in the nation for 2025. The research platform analyzed new building permits and new construction home sales from January and February 2025 in the 150 largest U.S. cities.

Houston (No. 1) and Dallas (No. 2) led the nation as the top two cities building the most new homes this year.

The findings revealed there were 3,889 new building permits issued during the first two months of the year in Austin, and 520 newly built homes were sold during that same period.

The city is keeping pace…

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"Central Texas city named No. 3 U.S. market for first-time homebuyers"

CultureMap Austin reports, "Central Texans who want to settle down in an up-and-coming, affordable city won't find a better place than Killeen, which just earned a coveted top-three spot in SmartAsset's 2025 rankings of the best housing markets for first-time homebuyers.

SmartAsset rated 180 of the largest U.S. metro areas based on relative affordability, housing inventory and demand, home pricing growth projections, and the relative population of residents in their 20s and 30s.

The South Texas border town of McAllen climbed through the ranks as the No. 1 best U.S. housing market for first-time homebuyers, while Killeen ranked third. Lawton, Oklahoma, wiggled between the two Texas cities in the top three.

This isn't the first time Killeen has…

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"High-End Home Sales Show No Sign of Slowing Down—and They’ve Doubled in This Southwest City"

Realtor.com writes, "Home sales during this spring selling season have faced a slump—but one part of the market is bucking the trend. Luxury buyers are stepping up, and in at least one city, sales have doubled in a week.

Luxury real estate across the country continues to outperform the median, and the $1 million-plus category has been the fastest-growing (or least-declining) sales segment for nearly two years, according to the National Association of Realtors®.

"Higher-end homeowners have substantial equity and are less reliant on mortgage financing. These types of properties have outperformed," says Danielle Hale, chief economist of Realtor.com®.

And in the past week, the Austin, TX, high-end market has been heating up. There were 15 newly…

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"The Fastest-Growing Places in the U.S. in 2025-2026"

U.S. News and World Report shares, "People are on the move, leaving and filling towns across the country. This great reshuffle has led some small communities to become boomtowns. The aging baby-boomer population has flocked to states like Florida and Arizona, where warm temperatures welcome them. Remote workers have found their spots in states across the West, where scenic mountain views await them after a Zoom meeting. Families and retirees are both heading to the Lone Star State, where numerous small towns offer the ideal balance of affordability and quality of life.

The cities on this list are ranked by net migration, which measures whether people are moving to or from each city. This metric assesses whether a city is attracting new…

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"Inventory of homes for sale in the Austin metro on the rise"

Austin Business Journal writes, "With housing inventory in the Austin metro on the rise, the region may be close to becoming a buyer’s market.

That’s according to the latest report from Unlock MLS, which found that the metro’s housing inventory reached 5.6 months in April, up 1.4 months from the same time last year and closing in on the six-month mark that's generally considered a balanced market. But with the inventory rising and a larger stock of more affordably priced homes, conditions could lead to a buyer’s market, or at least one that’s favorable for first-time buyers, said Clare Knapp, housing economist for Unlock MLS and the Austin Board of Realtors.

“If anything, it’s a good market for first-time buyers in the sense that they have a…

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"Austin's housing inventory went up and sales fell in April, per report"

CultureMap Austin shares, "Austin's homebuyers are uncovering an uncertain future for the housing market, as April sales took a nearly 14 percent dip from last year and housing inventory increased by 11.5 percent.

The latest real estate report from the Austin Board of Realtors (ABoR) and Unlock MLS said Austin's April housing data closely resembles a nationwide trend of higher mortgage rates and a decline in home sales.

New home listings in the Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos metropolitan statistical area (MSA) rose to 5,710 homes in April, adding to a total number of 13,351 active home listings. That's nearly 20 percent more from April 2024.

Only 2,484 homes in the Austin area were sold in April, and median home prices took a small 3.2 percent…

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"Here's where home prices grew the most in Q1 as affordability worsens for many Americans"

Story Highlights

• The National Association of Realtors says 83% of metro areas saw their single-family home prices grow in Q1.
• Nationally, the median single-family home price grew 3.4% in the first quarter.
• The Northeast performed the best in sales and price gains while the South lagged.

Austin Business Journal writes, "The U.S. housing market may be showing signs of softening but in most cities, single-family homes only got more expensive at the start of 2025.

A new report by the National Association of Realtors found 83% of metro areas tracked by the NAR saw their existing single-family home prices increase in the first quarter of 2025. While down from the 89% of metro areas that saw price growth in the fourth quarter of…

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"Mortgage Demand From Homeowners Recovers as Applications Rise for the Second Week in a Row"

Realtor.com reports, "Home loan applications slightly ticked up 1.1% for the second week, but are trending lower than last week when overall applications increased 11%.

The latest data from the Mortgage Bankers Association's Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey shows a 1.1% increase on mortgage loan application volume on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. The refinance index decreased 0.4% from the prior week but was 44% higher than the same week one year ago.

"The most notable change in this week's data was the increase in purchase applications, which jumped 2.3% on a weekly basis and were up 18% year over year," says Hannah Jones, senior economic research analyst at Realtor.com®. "The spring housing market is picking up, and…

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"Gen Z's regret grows over generational housing divide"

Austin Business Journal writes, "High home prices and elevated interest rates have members of Generation Z worried about missing out on the dream of homeownership — or deeply regretting having taken the plunge.

According to the BMO Real Financial Progress Index, 54% of American renters envy people their age and younger who have purchased a home. It's a dynamic that's even stronger among Gen Zers, with 63% of those respondents saying they are envious of homeowners. The Gen Z share is second only to that of millennials, who are most likely to be envious, at 67%.

"The data show that owning a home remains a key component of the American dream, but with some obstacles still facing first-time homebuyers, younger generations worry they missed their…

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